From left to right: Abdullah’s Auntie Nayima (30) and her three-year-old son Azadin, SRT member Rebecca Novell (UK), Abdullah (28) , Mohammad (15), all at Abdullah’s temporary home he built at Domiz refugee camp, November 2012

One night in October 2010, 40 soldiers came to take Abdullah from his home in Qamishli, Syria. His time as an English Language student at University of Aleppo was to stop. Instead he was forced to join the Syrian Army to fight for President Bashar al-Assad. Two years later, he escaped amidst the escalating violence between government troops and rebel fighters and is now living as a deserter at Domiz refugee camp in Iraq Kurdistan. He is also proving to be invaluable to ShelterBox as its guide and translator.